Independent Study in The Real World and Surving A Second Senior Year
by copperpenny92
Summary: In Fall of 2013, Jeff, Annie, and Shirley have to adjust to a world much different than the one they're used to, after they've graduated. Meanwhile, Abed, Britta, and Troy, remain at Greendale because they haven't completed all their requirements yet. Abed keeps trying to find ways to fill the void of the missing Study Group members. Meanwhile, a serial killer is on the loose...
1. Chapter 1

a/n: something I wrote while procrastinating, so it's not that descriptive. I haven't abondoned my other fic, but I should be updating it soon. I do not own _Community_.

In Fall of 2013, Jeff, Annie, and Shirley have to adjust to a world much different than the one they're used to after they've graduated. Meanwhile, Abed, Britta, and Troy, remain at Greendale because they haven't completed all their requirements yet. Abed keeps trying to find ways to fill the void of the missing Study Group members.

* * *

Troy and Abed sat at the study table in Study Room F. Troy stopped doodling in his notebook and looked at the five empty seats in the room. He frowned and turned to Abed.

"So, now that Annie has graduated, who is going to make us study?" Troy asked.

Abed raised his eyebrows slightly, "Looks like we're going to have to motivate ourselves somehow."

"And now that Shirley has graduated, who is gonna make us brownies and lemon squares and other awesomely delicious things and say 'ahh, that's nice,' when things are nice?"

"Maybe we could make our own baked goods?"

"Annie wont let us use the flour. Remember last time we tried to bake?"

* * *

_Annie walked out of her room. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes narrowed in anger as she saw the scene before her in the kitchen. _

_"Wh-wh-what the hell happened in here?" Annie yelled. _

_"We're baking," Abed said. Both him and Troy were covered head to toe in a thick layer of flour. _

_"The floor and the counters are covered in flour as are you guys!" Annie walked slowly towards the kitchen. _

_"Yeah, about that, we were trying to do a powder gag," Troy shrugged, "But we kept messing up."_

_"We started with a flour bomb fight, but it quickly escalated. Then, we decided to be ghosts, like in the 'Scooby Doo' episode where-" Abed began to say. _

_"I-I don't care," Annie closed her eyes, "Just, please, clean it up." She turned around and walked back into her room._

* * *

"Yeah, she was pretty mad about that," Abed nodded. He tilted his head and rose one finger up in the air, "Wait, something is different."

"Well, yeah, we're missing, like, half of our group."

"Not that. Something else..."

Britta walked into the study room casually. She wore converse sneakers and a light blue hoodie, instead of her usual high heeled boots and leather jacket. However, what caused Abed's comment, was not her outfit. Britta Perry was now a brunette. Her blonde locks had been dyed a light, chestnut brown.

"That," Abed said and pointed at Britta.

She sat down in her seat and asked, "What?"

"Your hair," Troy said, "Wh-what happened to it?"

"I dyed it," Britta shrugged.

"Are you depressed? Characters dye their hair when they get depressed," Abed asked, "Because if you are, I would know and I don't think you are." He paused, but then widened his eyes, "Are you hiding from someone? Did you need to change your apearance to avoid a person from your past?"

"No, I just thought it would be a good change," Britta said. She looked at the four empty seats at the table, "Is it me or is it weird for all of us to sit on the same side of the table?"

"What's weird is your hair color..." Troy said.

"I think we should stay in our same seats," Abed said, "It would be bad to mess up the continuity even more. People would be really upset. I mean imagine the outrage if we put you in Annie's seat."

"That would not be good," Troy shook his head, "Although, I think people would be even angrier if it was Pierce's seat."

"That wouldn't be good either," Abed nodded and said, "We have to stay in our same seats. "

"People?" Britta crinkled her forehead, "Abed, what people?"

"You know," Abed nodded, "the people watching, the audience."

"How many times do I need to tell you that there is no-" Britta began to say.

"So, what class are we all taking together this semester?" Troy asked, "I think we should take Comics and Society-"

"No," Britta said, "Comics are pretty sexist. I mean most of them depict women in scantily dressed clothes and give them dialogue with double entendres. All the women look exactly the same and have unrealistic body proportions, worse than Barbie dolls. I mean, I know they have a male audience to please, but the utter disregard and respect of-"

As Britta ranted, Troy looked at Abed with wide eyes. He whispered, "How do we shut her up? Usually, I just walk away, but we can't both walk away like this in the middle of a study meeting."

Abed tilted his head back at Troy and whispered, "Usually, Jeff interrupts her or says something sarcastic and tells her to shut up or Annie corrects her on something she has inaccurately referenced."

"What do we do?" Troy winced.

"I have an idea," Abed nodded. He got up out of his seat and sat in Jeff's old seat. He leaned back in the chair and put his feet up on the table. As he took out his phone and began to text, he said, in a lower, more confident voice, "I'm not taking some comic book class with you guys. Let's face it, a semester with Britta complaining to the professor with an annoying feminist tirade every class is not worth the easy Literature credit. I say we take Maple Syrup: The Real Thing."

Britta stopped talking and looked at Abed with wide eyes.

Abed got up out of Jeff's seat and sat in Annie's old seat. He sat up with perfect posture and began batting his eyelashes at Jeff's chair. He spoke with a high pitched, flirty voice, "Ugh, Je-ff, there aren't any maple trees on campus for that class to even exist."

As Abed got up from Annie's seat to go sit back in Jeff's, Troy asked Britta without taking his eyes off of Abed switching seats, "Britta? Abed building sexual tension between himself imitating two people is supposed to awkward, right?"

"I think so," Britta said with a shocked daze as she watched Abed switch seats.

"Then why isn't it?" Troy whispered back.

"I'm not sure..." Britta said. Her eyes were wide and slightly horrified.

Abed put both his feet back on the table and took his cell phone out. After pretending to send a text, he looked up from his phone and over at Annie's empty seat. He flashed a confident, smug smile and said, "I know. It's the perfect Jeff Winger blow-off class."

Abed got up and sat back in Annie's seat. He rolled his shoulder back, fixing his posture, and said tilting his head at Jeff's empty seat, "Why must you always take the easy way out?"

He got out of Annie's seat and sat back in Jeff's, "Because if I didn't, you guys would push me to do more; regardless of how much effort I put in. By doing the bare minimum, I avoid working even harder because I always have the guarantee that you guys will always be there; annoying the absolute hell out of me and pesturing me to do more." Abed smiled and added, "Not that I don't appreciate it."

Abed got up, out of Jeff's seat and sat down in Shirley's. He said in a high pitched, sweet voice, "Oh, that's kind of nice."

"No, it isn't, Shirley," Britta said and then caught herself, "Wait-"

"It isn't?" Abed lowered his voice slightly and tilted his head at Britta.

"It makes sense to me," Troy nodded. Britta looked over at Troy with her mouth half-open in disbelief.

Abed left Shirley's seat and sat in Pierce's. He uttered a confident, condescending laugh and said, "Ah, Brittles, spoken like a true closeted-lesbian. In my day, if a woman-"

"That's it!" Britta yelled.

Abed left Pierce's seat and ran over to Annie's, "No, need to yell, Britta!" He turned his head to Jeff's empty seat and said, "Jeff, make her to stop yelling at us."

He left Annie's seat. On his way over to Jeff's seat he almost tripped over the leg of the chair between Jeff and Annie's seats. He stumbled into Jeff's seat and took out his cellphone. Without looking up from the phone, he said, "Britta, stop yelling at them."

"I should be yelling at them-Wait! No!" she shook her head, "Abed!"

Abed left Jeff's seat. Britta's eyes followed Abed as he walked over to his original spot. He sat down and looked at Britta,"Yeah?"

"This is so not working!" she said as her voice cracked.

"You're right. I don't think I'll have the energy to do that everyday. I have another idea."

Troy sighed and said, "You promised we wouldn't do that! Those montages are the Britta of montages."

"Unfortunately it's the only way, Troy," Abed said.

"What's the only way?" Britta asked.

"You'll see," Abed nodded, "meet us in the gym at noon."

* * *

Annie stood in a high-tech lab, dressed in a lab coat and goggles. She giddily smiled as she awaited for the lecture to begin. She looked over at her lab partner and smiled, "Hi, I'm Annie."

"John," he nodded, "You from Colorado?"

"Yeah, are you?"

"Yeah, I'm from Boulder and I went to Colorado State. Where did you do your undergrad?"

"Um," Annie cleared her throat and muttered, "Greendale Community College."

"Where? I didn't hear you," John smiled.

Annie fixed her posture and said more clearly, "Greendale Community College."

"Oh, wow. You must have been, like, in the top five in your graduating class to get into the University of Denver. Man, I had a cousin who went to Greendale. It was real tough for him when he got out. Dude went through this angry stage. I think he lived on a mountain for a while, but now he's fine. I think he got a job doing, well, something. But, you know what they say these days? It only matters where your highest level degree is from."

"Yeah, I guess," Annie said as she looked down at her shoes.

* * *

Jeff was laying down on his couch, watching horrible, daytime TV. His phone rang. He picked it up without looking at the contact. "Yeah?"

_"Heyyy," _Britta said from the other line.

"Why are you calling me right now?"

_"I'm bored. Shirley is busy working the breakfast rush. I can't call Annie, she's in class. Troy and Abed are organizing something. I'm supposed to meet them in the gym later. For what? I do not know." _

"Please, tell me that you do know that you're about to get dragged into some shenanigan?"

_Britta sighed, "Oh, I am fully aware of that. How was that interview?" _

"Shitty."

_"What happened?" _

"Alan has tainted my name all over town. I think they only called me in for an interview to laugh in my face. I can't do consulting forever and at this rate, I'm going to have to go into Private Practice. I'll never be a partner at a large firm."

_"Maybe you should start a private practice? That way you can help normal people with their problems and not do it for some large firm that defends large corporations and skeezeballs." _

"Maybe you can stop being too pious for your own good?" Jeff asked sarcastically.

_"You sound weird. What are you doing?" _

"I'm at a coffee shop."

_"No, you're not. I bet you're laying on your couch and watching 'Maury.' Aren't you? Jeff, get out of there! Daytime, trash TV is a dark place. It will suck you in. Trust me. When I lived in New York-" _

"You do know that living in New York does not automatically equate to 'I have enough life experience to answer every problem in the history of mankind?'"

_"It's human kind,"_ Jeff rolled his eyes as he listened to her on the phone, "_and, like, seriously, when I was a waitress at a nice restaurant, not some diner where I had to wake up at the crack of dawn, but, like, a fancy place, I would work until, like, one in the morning. Then me and the other staff would all get wasted after and then I would wake up on my couch and watch crap TV all day. It's a bad cycle Jeff and it takes you to dark places. Get your ass off that couch now before you spiral into that place of nihilistic-" _

"Hey, you said, 'nihilistic' correctly. Congratulations."

_"Why do you have to be a jackass, when I'm just trying to hel-"_

"I'm gonna hang up now," Jeff said.

_"No-wait! Je-"_ Jeff hung up the phone. He turned off his TV, looked up at the ceiling and sighed, "Damn you, Britta."

Jeff got off of his couch. He grabbed his keys and left his apartment.

* * *

Britta walked into the gym and saw Abed and Troy sitting at a pop-up table with clip boards in front of them. She tilted her head and asked, "What's going on here?"

"Auditions," Troy nodded.

"Are you making a movie, Abed?" Britta asked.

"No, I'm recasting the four missing members of our study group," Abed said, without taking his eyes away from the clipboard, "Sit down. You're part of this decision too."

"You can't just recast our friends," Britta said, "We do still see them, remember? We just wont see them at Greendale everyday. "

"Don't worry. I'm only hiring them as study session replacements," Abed nodded.

"See, well, according to Abed," Troy said, "there's a balance to maintain and we can't disrupt the balance. Otherwise, nothing would get done."

Britta sighed and walked over to the empty chair behind the card table. She looked over at Troy and Abed next to her and asked, "You guys are going to do this whether I agree to it or not, aren't you?"

"Pretty much," Abed deadpanned.

She looked at Abed and said, "Hey, haven't you taken enough film classes to fulfill all your requirements?"

"Yeah, but I'm not a film major," Abed said.

"What? What's your major then? Britta asked.

"Business," Abed said as he flipped through the papers on his clipboard. He looked up and said, "Garrett, send in the first one."

Britta shook her head and asked, "How many more business credits do you need to graduate?"

"Forty-two," Abed said.

A man walked into the gym and asked, "Is this where the marching band tryout is?"

"Oh, that's being held on the soccer fields," Troy said and pointed towards the door with his pen.

"Thank you!" the man said and left the gym.

Troy began to flip through the papers on his clipboard. He turned to Abed and said, "I told you audition montages were the Britta of montages."

Abed nodded and shrugged.

"Abed!" Britta crinkled her forehead, "You've only taken one business class? What was it?"

"Accounting."

"You took one business class, first semester of Freshman year?"

"Yeah," Abed nodded. He looked through the papers on his clipboard and said, "Garrett, send the next one in."

"Why don't you just change your major to film, so you can graduate and move on?" Britta asked.

"That was it!" Garrett yelled back.

"What do you mean that was it?" Troy asked.

Abed looked at Britta and said, "I can't. I'm supposed to graduate with a business degree."

"That was the only person who came," Garrett said.

"Why do you need a business degree?" Britta asked.

"How is that even possible? Do they know what the audition is for?" Troy asked.

"Of course they do!" Garrett said, "No one wants to be in your group! Even only as part-time members!"

"Falafel," Abed nodded, "My father wont let me change my major."

"But you have enough credits to graduate," Britta said.

"What? Why and how is that even possible?" Troy asked, "Do they know about all the awesome adventures we end up going on?"

"Or shenanigans?" Abed tilted his head at Garrett.

Britta rolled her eyes and sighed, "And the escapades? Do they know about those?"

"You're actually committing to the bit?" Troy looked over at Britta.

Britta shrugged and looked at her cellphone.

"No one wants to be in your group! Especially after what you did to Buddy and Todd and Kevin and Annie Kim and-"

"Okay, we get the point," Britta said.

"We need a new plan," Abed said. He rose from his seat and looked down at Britta and Troy, "Meet me in the study room in two hours."


	2. Chapter 2

a/n: I don't own _Community_. I haven't abandoned my other fic, this one has just been easier to write during my finals while I procrastinate.

* * *

Jeff pulled his Lexus into a non-parking spot. He leaned his head back and looked out the window. "Just when you think you get out," he muttered to himself. He got out of his car; wearing track pants and sneakers. He walked across the Greendale Community College quad. As he entered the building he was welcomed by a high pitched squeal.

"Jefffreyyy!" the Dean ran towards him and wrapped his arms around Jeff's waist. Jeff lifted his arms up awkwardly and cringed. He patted the Dean on the back and pushed him away. The Dean looked up at him and asked, "Jeffrey! Jeffrey! Jeffrey! What on earth are you doing here?"

"Have you seen Britta?" Jeff tilted his head at the Dean and sighed.

"Ugh, why are you looking for her? Haven't you seen enough of her already? Are we going to have to suffer through all of that nonsense between you, her and-"

"No," Jeff said. He noticed a flier on the bulletin board, which looked like it was written in Troy's childish bubble letters. He walked past the Dean mid-sentence, pulled it off the board and read it.

_Do you like awesome adventures? _

_Or exciting escapades? _

_Perhaps you prefer shameless shenanigans? _

_Have you ever wanted to be someone else for four hours and fifteen minutes a day, for five days a week, between the hours of 9am and 10am, 12pm and 1pm, and 4pm and 6:15pm?_

_Then look no further! _

_Two adorable, all around nice guys and a slightly annoying (but totally hot), formally an anarchist and currently a second-wave feminist are looking for; a sarcastic, deadpan snarker with a chip on his shoulder, a sweet, single mother (who preferably bakes awesome pies- apple not cherry), an old dude (over the age of sixty-five, but not Leonard- we know what you did in the last study group you joined), and a studious (preferably female) perfectionist (preferably hot also; that would be awesome, but we also promise to not sexualize you unless it is completely unavoidable. Which may include, but not be limited to; flirtatious banter with the deadpan snarker, dressing up in a sexy Santa costume- yes, Jeff we know about that- and being a complete badass at paintball while not wearing pants) to form a Breakfast Club-like Study Group. _

"How did they know about that?" Jeff's mouth dropped open.

"Know about what?" the Dean asked as he tried to link arms with Jeff.

Jeff shook the Dean off his arm and crinkled his forehead, "Never mind." He looked back at the flier and continued reading.

_At the audition, please be prepared for the following; A test of your pop-culture knowledge (those auditioning to be the older man will be exempt from this section), a test of your paintball skills (being awesome is a must, except we do think that this whole paintball thing has been dragged out and beaten worse than the last five seasons of The Simpsons, but better be safe than sorry, right?), and your choice of a class we should all take together this semester and preferably one that wont make our slightly annoying, (but totally awesome), feminist friend rant every class (don't worry the rants aren't as bad as they seem). _

_If this sounds like something you would be awesome at, then please come to auditions at the Gym Today at Noon! _

"Idiots," Jeff muttered. He began walking down the hallway and towards the cafeteria.

"Where are you going? Dean said as he attempted to catch up with Jeff.

"To see Shirley and try to find Britta," Jeff said, "I'm gone for less than a day and these doofuses pulled a stunt like this?" He handed the flier to the Dean, who began to read it.

"Hmm, I need to get a Santa costume," the Dean muttered.

"What?" Jeff asked as he walked down the hallway.

"Nothing!" the Dean said.

Jeff walked into the cafeteria. His mouth dropped open as he saw the long line and crowd of people at Shirley's Sandwiches.

"Told you about the breakfast, well now it's lunch, rush," Britta's voice said.

Jeff crinkled his forehead and looked around him, but he didn't see a blonde head anywhere.

"Right here," Britta said as she waved with pursed lips.

"What did you do to your hair?" Jeff asked.

"I wanted a change," she shrugged.

He looked down at her and asked, "Did you shrink?"

"No, but I'm on my way to becoming a shrink," she said with a smile.

"Really? A pun? You can do better than that," Jeff tilted his head at her.

"I'm all bickered out," she rolled her eyes and said, "I'm not wearing heels for once."

"That would have been helpful during a certain incident last year," Jeff smiled.

Britta's lips pursed, "Shut up."

"When did you dye your hair?" Jeff crinkled his forehead.

"This morning," she shrugged. "What are you doing here?"

"You told me to get my ass off the couch, so here I am; ass off the couch."

"Really?" Britta beamed, "I influenced you to-"

"Stop," he tilted his head at her, "it's not that big of an accomplishment and stop giving me that look."

Britta's smile faded, "Fine. Just remember, Jeff. It's a dark place. Trust me."

"I'll make sure to remember," Jeff said sarcastically.

"You can't really speak to Shirley right now. Lunch rush ends at three." She looked at her cellphone, "I'm supposed to meet Abed and Troy in the Study room in, like, ten minutes. Want to come with?"

"Why not?' Jeff sighed.

* * *

Annie stood in the Biology lab of the University of Denver. She sat on the stool; dressed in a lab coat and wearing goggles. Her lab partner, John, was looking into the microscope on the lab bench.

While looking into the microscope, John said, "The cellular structure of..."

Annie's stare was fixed on the clock.

"Annie?" he asked, "...Annie? Earth to Annie..."

She snapped out of her daze and said, "Ummm...yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know..." she tilted her head, "I don't fell well." She looked at her watch to see if the time matched with the clock hanging above the door.

"You wanna go home and I'll finish the research?"

"You don't mind?" she asked.

He shook his head, "Nah, I'll be fine."

Annie smiled as she began to pack up her books, "Thank you."

* * *

In Study Room F, Troy crinkled his forehead with anxiety as he looked at Abed, "Britta isn't going to like this."

"She'll get over it," Abed said.

"Hey, I didn't know that track pants were a fall trend," they heard a sarcastic female voice down the hallway.

"Well, you don't read_ GQ_," the male voice said.

"Jeff!" Troy said.

"Hmm," Abed tilted his head, "If he's here, then things must not be looking good for him."

Jeff walked into the room as he bickered with Britta.

"I don't read _GQ, _as it is a sexist magazine, but I can read this cry for help you're trying to express." Britta nodded and patted Jeff on the shoulder. She turned towards the Study table. Her eyes widened and she dropped her psych book on the floor; causing a thud.

"What the hell is this!" Jeff asked. He narrowed his eyebrows. He gestured towards the life sized card board cutouts of the missing study group members, which occupied the chairs. "First the stupid flier and now this?"

"It's a solution to our study session balance problem," Troy nodded, "Abed is learning how to throw his voice. Now he doesn't have to switch chairs around the room."

"No," Britta shook her head, "This is not healthy. We," she motioned around the room, "need to break our co-dependency, like, right now."

"Britta, shut it with the psychological analysis," Jeff said as he walked over to the cardboard cutout of himself in the chair. It was a picture of him dressed in a beige sweater and jeans; smugly raising one eyebrow and looking up from the cell phone in his hands. He looked around the study table and saw that Annie's cardboard cutout was of her wearing a purple sweater and flashing a confident smile as she twirled a purple pen between her fingers. Shirley's card-board cut-out had her holding her purse and smiling as she tilted her head. Pierce's was of him fiddling with a gadget while wearing tinted glasses.

"Where did you get these pictures of everyone?" Britta rose one eyebrow at Abed.

"We-" Troy began to say, but then saw Abed shaking his head. "Nevermind." Troy cringed.

The Dean walked into the study room and began to say, "Sorry, guys but you don't have enough people to occupy the study room during this hou- Jeffrey! You're still here! Are you coming back? Are you going to get a second degree?" He walked up to Jeff and let his hand linger on Jeff's chest.

"No," Jeff said as he swatted the Dean away. "I'm here to see what these wackos have organized." He glared at Abed and set the flier from earlier down on the table. He pointed at it, "You tried to replace us!"

"Just for study sessions," Abed said.

"No one came," Britta said as she sat down in her seat.

"You were apart of this, too?" Jeff turned to her.

"I showed up before they told me what they were doing and if you ask me, this cardboard cut-out thing is way weirder," she cringed and said, "I think cardboard Annie is looking at me suggestively."

"Turn her towards cardboard Jeff," Troy said.

"That's a good idea," Abed pointed towards Troy.

"Ah, Brittles, you know you want her," a voice said from Pierce's cardboard cut-out.

"Abed!" Jeff glared at Abed and ruffled his hands through his hair, "No!"

Abed shook his head, "That was Pierce."

"That's it! I'm getting Shirley and I'm calling Annie and then we are all dealing with," Jeff motioned around the study table, "this, whatever the hell this is supposed to be." He stormed out of the Study Room.

"Co-dependency," Britta nodded, "That's what this is." Her phone vibrated. She picked up the phone and said, "Jeff?"

_"Britta, just because you read one chapter in a psych book, doesn't make you an expert on this!" _

"You didn't even hear me say it!"

_"I didn't have to hear it to know what you said when I left." _

Britta rolled her eyes, "See, I told you...Jeff?"

The other line of the phone was silent.

"He hung up on me!" Britta's lips pursed. She glared at the phone and began angrily typing a text message to Jeff.

"Wow," the Dean fanned himself, "You guys made him really angry."

"He'll be fine," Abed nodded.

"Anyway," the Dean said, "I'm really sorry, but you need at least five people to be occupying this 'group study room,' between the hours of two and seven in order to use it."

"Dean, doesn't it say in the Greendale bylaws that exceptions can be made if approved by the Dean?" Abed threw his voice, so it sounded like the comment came from cardboard Annie.

The Dean tilted his head at cardboard Annie and then looked at Britta. He whispered to her, "Who am I supposed to respond to?"

Britta looked up from her cell phone and rolled her eyes, "The cardboard Annie."

"Well...um..._cardboard_ Annie, I don't think the other student would be very happy," He cringed, "I think they're still angry at you guys about the incident or incidents and I can't have a coup de Dean again."

"Still?" Troy asked.

"I'm afraid so," the Dean cringed, "looks like you guys have to leave." The Dean began to walk out of the study room, but he quickly turned around grabbed cardboard Jeff. "And now that Jeffrey is back, you probably wont be needing this!" the Dean ran out of the room with cardboard Jeff under his arm.

"Dammit, Jeff isn't back forever," Troy sighed, "We need that cardboard version of him to stop Britta from ranting and to give us inspirational speeches when the real Jeff isn't around."

"Don't worry. I anticipated this," Abed said, "I made copies of Jeff. They're in the East Wing Janitor's closet."

Britta shook her head. She looked up from her phone and said, "Jeff wants us to meet him in the cafeteria so we can talk to Shirley about this."

* * *

Annie walked into the Greendale Cafeteria after she received a text message Jeff. She observed the Study Group, minus Pierce, sitting at a booth and arguing as Abed sat there with a stoic expression.

"Abed!" Shirley tilted her head and closed her eyes. She shook her head, "Honey, you tried to replace me even though I'm here at Greendale everyday?"

"We need balance," Abed said, "Without Jeff, Britta rants and nothing gets done-"

"That's not true!" Britta said, "So typical, now that I'm the only female who goes to the study sessions-"

"It's typical because it's true, not because of your gender," Jeff said while rolling his eyes.

"Did you learn that from watching _Maury_ in your track pants?" Britta crossed her arms and glared at Jeff. "Because yesterday-"

"Yesterday?" Abed muttered to himself.

Shirley interrupted with her threatening voice, "We're trying to solve a problem! Put your bickering aside for once or I'll show you the-"

"And Shirley stops the bickering," Troy looked over at Abed.

"Thank you," Shirley smiled. She looked at her watch, "Oh, I need to leave in fifteen minutes. My kids are playing football and I need to drive them to practice. Aww, the other day Elijah threw a-"

"Ugh, really? The kids again?"" Britta sighed, "We've heard this story before. Elijah throws a touchdown, cheering from crowd, yadah, yadah, yadah."

"Thank you, Britta for not making us be subjected to the same story we've heard countless times," Jeff nodded.

"Britta stops Shirley from telling the same stories about her kids over and over," Abed said.

"Dude," Troy said to Abed, "It just occurred to me."

"What?" Abed asked.

"We've never done a sports homage," Troy tilted his head.

"You're kidding," Jeff asked as he narrowed his eyebrows and texted on his phone.

Abed pointed towards Troy and said, "The basketball team hasn't been doing too well-"

Troy's smile grew wide, "_Hoosi_-"

"Hey! There is a problem that needs to be solved here!" Annie interrupted as she walked closer to the cafeteria table.

"An-nie!" Shirley exclaimed.

"When did you get here?" Britta asked with a smile.

"I just walked in,"Annie said.

"Hey, you got out of research?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah," Annie nodded.

Abed smiled at her and nodded, "And Annie keeps us on task."

Annie smiled back and sat in the cafeteria booth in her seat next to Shirley. She quietly asked as she focused her eyes on the floor, "And what about...you know..."

Britta looked down at her notebook and whispered, "Pierce is supposed to kill the sexual tension."

Annie nodded as she sucked on her bottom lip, "I think we can try to manage. I mean we've managed all summer." She gulped and restrained her eyes from watering.

"Now does everyone understand?" Abed asked.

Everyone began to nod.

Jeff closed his eyes and said, "Let's just...talk, but not about this; not about the balance of the group. Let's just talk around this table and forget that everything is different, just this once. We can worry about everything else tomorrow."

"I like that," Annie smiled at Jeff.

"That's nice," Shirley nodded.

"So," Troy tilted his head, "Track pants, Jeff?"

"Apparently its a fall trend," Britta smirked at Jeff as she crossed her arms.

"It is," Jeff said confidently.

"Apparently, it was also a Fall trend in 2009," Shirley laughed.

"When did I become the target for ridicule in this conversation?" Jeff asked.

"The second you chose to put track pants on this morning," Annie giggled.

Abed nodded as he looked around the table at his friends laughing

* * *

The next morning, Britta walked into the Study Room and saw Abed and Troy sitting in track suits with whistles around their necks. They were hovering over a binder; muttering to each other.

"What are you guys doing? Britta asked.

"We're coaching the basketball team," Troy said without looking up from the binder.

"We haven't done a sports homage yet," Abed said.

"Exactly," Troy nodded, "We're going to lead them to victory in the Division Four Championships."

"What about the class we're going to take?" Britta's forehead crinkled as she sat down.

Troy looked up from the binder and asked, "What do you want to take?"

"I don't know," Britta shrugged, "I was thinking we could take a literature class."

Abed looked up from the binder and looked her up and down, "You're wearing heels again. Will you dye your hair back?"

"No," Britta rolled her eyes, "...At least not right now. Abed, I thought we helped you deal with this change thing. We all knew it would be different this year."

"It's not the change I'm worried about. It's the balance of the group," Abed said.

"So, about that class," Britta cleared her throat.

"I don't think we should take a class together," Abed said, "We don't have the balance in order for us to study together and get things done."

"No!" Britta blurted out, "We _need_ to take a class together! We really, really need to take a literature class together!

Troy looked at Britta with wide eyes, "Are you okay?"

Britta composed herself and said casually, "Yeah, yeah, I'm-I'm fine."

Abed tilted his head at her, "Britta needs a literature class to graduate, but she doesn't want to read the books."

"That's not true," Britta nervously laughed, "I read, like, all the time."

"No, you don't," Abed said while looking at the binder filled with basketball strategies.

"It wasn't like I was gonna to read the books," Troy said.

"I know," Britta shook her head, "I was counting on Abed and his insane talent for analyzing stories or books or whatever."

Abed looked at her contemplating what to do. After a pause he said, "I don't think so. I already earned my literature credit when I helped Jeff edit the school paper. You need a story arc for this season-"

"There are no 'seasons,'" Britta pursed her lips at him.

He continued; ignoring her comment, "and I think this will help you grow as a character."

"You're kidding?" Britta narrowed her eyes at him.

"No, I'm not," Abed said. He turned to Troy and asked, "What time is it?"

"Abed! What about your story arc?" Britta glared at him as she crossed her arms.

"It's almost ten," Troy said, "We need to get going."

He shrugged and said to Britta, "I'm coaching the basketball team with Troy."

"That's not the one I'm talking about," Britta tilted her head at him.

Abed looked at Troy and then at Britta to say, "We can talk about that later." He rose from his chair and looked at Troy, "We have a team to shape up." He walked out of the room.

Troy tilted his head at Britta and said, "He's still a bit broken up from yesterday. He really thought the cardboard cut-out thing would be a semi-decent solution." He then got up and left the room.

* * *

"Annie? Why aren't you in class?" Jeff looked down at her as she stood in his doorway.

"Professor cancelled lab. Something about a fire in the Chemistry department... Why aren't you job hunting?"

"I am," he said and motioned to the laptop sitting on the coffee table.

"Then why do I hear _Maury_ in the background?"

"What do you want?"

She shrugged, "Can I come in?"

"Fine," Jeff waved for her to come in.

She looked around the living room and said, "Still haven't gotten curtains yet?"

"No," he said.

She sat down on the couch and said, "I hate this."

"Then change the channel," Jeff said and asked, "Do you want a drink?"

"Yeah and no, it's not the channel. I-I hate going to grad school," her eyes widened, "I-I think I'm sick of school...can that even be possible? Is something wrong with me?"

"It's normal," Jeff said. He handed her a scotch and sat down on the couch.

Annie took a sip and looked at Jeff, "I guess." She looked at his outfit and crinkled her forehead to ask, "Track pants? Still?"

He shrugged and began to watch Maury.

"You were wearing track pants the day you started the Study Group... In fact, I think you wore them the whole entire first month, well, at least until you met Britta..."

He smiled, "You noticed what I wore for the entire first month of class?"

Annie nodded shyly as she took a sip of her scotch.

"I remember you used to wear khaki pants," Jeff laughed.

Annie laughed and shoved his shoulder, "Please, choose to not remember that."

"It's etched into my brain. However, fortunately, for me, it's not the only outfit of yours etched into my brain." Jeff smiled as he watched the television.

Annie blushed as she tried to hide her smirk and took a sip of her drink. She looked at her watch and then turned to him. "Jeff?" She tilted her head and her eyelids began to quiver, "Please, get me a job at the crime lab...I know that you are, like, this close to taking that prosecuto-"

"Shh!" Jeff hissed.

"Calm down. We're the only ones here," Annie rolled her eyes.

"I know. Sorry, it was a reflex. Just, don't say it out loud and don't tell anyone, especially Britta."

"I don't know why you wont tell anyone."

"Because if Britta finds out, she's going to think I went soft and give me a speech about my growth as a person because becoming a-a prosecutor is even more pious than opening a private practice and then she'll give me that look," he shook his head, "I can't deal with that look right now, it's worse than her judgey face."

"Fine, we wouldn't want her to give you 'that look,'" Annie pursed her lips; fully knowing what 'that' look from Britta meant. She paused and then asked "Well, can you?"

"Can I what?"

"Get me a job at the crime lab?"

"Annie, we've been over this. They won't hire people who got their degrees from Greendale... Something about Duncan teaching the blood stain analysis class-"

"Ugh, worst semester of my life," Annie shook her head and took another sip of her scotch, "I had to practically teach that class myself."

He smiled at her sympathetically, "Annie, I told you, get your Masters in Biology at the University of Denver and then I can help you."

"The real world sucks," Annie folded her arms.

"Tell me about it," Jeff sighed.

"At least we have _Maury_," Annie said.

Jeff looked at the television screen and then looked at Annie. _It's a dark place, Jeff. _He heard Britta's words echoing in his mind. He grabbed the remote and turned the TV off.

"Hey!" Annie said, "I wanted to find out who the father was!"

"Get up," Jeff motioned for her to get up off of the couch, "We need to get the hell out of here and do something."


	3. Chapter 3

a/n: Sorry, this has taken a while. I've been pretty busy with an internship. Within the next couple weeks, I should be adding an epilogue to, "Grand Romantic Gestures."

* * *

"Where are we going?" Annie asked as she looked out the window of Jeff's Lexus. Her eyes shifted away from the window and on to the floor. She noticed a woman's earring. It was a silver stud and as the sunlight caught it every couple of seconds, it created a small, distracting flash that kept reminding her it wasn't her earring.

"I don't know," Jeff shrugged, "What do you want to do?"

She looked over at him and gave him a knowing smile.

"Really?" He looked over at her quickly before looking back on the road.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"That?"

"Mmmhmmm," she nodded again with a smile.

He smiled and laughed while shaking his head, "Fine."

* * *

Jeff walked down the aisles of Linen and Things. He stopped in the curtain aisle and turned to Annie.

"Which ones should I get?" he asked her.

"Whatever you want," Annie shrugged and dragged her delicate fingers across the plastic packaging of the curtains.

"I'm not sure which ones I want," he said as he shoved his hands into his track pant pockets.

"Get which ones that are, I don't know? 'You,' I guess?" she shrugged.

"I don't know which ones are me," Jeff said as he picked up a box of red curtains.

Annie shook her head and took the box out of his hands. "No. Red is not you." She put the box back on the shelf and began to look at the selection.

As she stared at the choices of curtains in front of her, Jeff stared at her and smiled.

She looked up at him and smiled back, "What?"

"Oh nothing," he shrugged and asked, "Which curtains are Jeff Winger?"

"Whichever ones you want!" Annie said with an exposition of fake cheer. She composed herself and continued, "I mean, it's your apartment."

"I just picked the red ones and you just said that red wasn't me," Jeff replied.

"Sometimes," Annie began to say. She grabbed a box of sage curtains to compliment the chairs in his apartment and turned to him with a smile as she handed him the box, "you just need a little help to point you in the right direction. Sometimes what you may think you want is not what you may actually need."

"Thanks," he nodded as he looked at the box.

* * *

"Okay, guys. I've been shopping around for a literature class and I've finally figured out the one I'm going to take. The class is about the something called a monomyth. Guess what book I get to read!" Britta stated proudly as she took her seat at the study table.

"What?" Troy asked, disinterested, without taking his eyes off of the basketball playbook in front of him. He turned to Abed, "We should make them practice this drill." He pointed to the playbook.

Abed nodded and said, "Good idea."

Britta took a book out of her purse and plopped it onto the study-table.

Abed picked up the book and read the title, "_Watership Down_? Britta I don't think-"

"It's about bunnies!" she exclaimed, "How can you go wrong with a book about bunnies?"

"Britta?" Troy asked with wide eyes, "have you never seen the 1978 animated film adaptation of this book?"

"No, why?" Britta crinkled her forehead.

"Tell her," Troy nodded to Abed.

Abed whispered into Britta's ear. Her face contorted into various expressions; changing from shock to disgust to sadness. "All that happens in a book about bunnies?" Britta whined, "I need to find another course." She took out the course catalogue and began to frantically search through it.

"Okay," Troy nodded, "I have to go to, 'Humidity Control and Meditation." He turned to Abed, "I'll see you at practice, Assistant Coach."

"See you then," Abed pointed back at Troy before Troy left the room.

Britta looked up from her course catalogue and smirked at Abed.

"Don't," Abed said.

"Don't what?" Britta asked innocently.

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Come on, dude. Tell me what's up. Why have you not changed your major to film so you can have enough credits and officially graduate?"

"Because I'm needed here still. I have some unfinished business."

"Unfinished business?" Britta asked accusatively.

"Yeah," Abed nodded. He took the course catalogue away from her. "Take this class." He pointed at the slick, magazine-like paper. "I think it's exactly what you need."

* * *

Annie laid down on one of the prop beds. She crossed her legs and looked up at the ceiling. Jeff laid down next to her and remained silent for a few moments.

"Hey, this is like that movie with that girl from that TV show and that guy who is the police officer in _Dark Knight Rises_," Jeff deadpanned and began to laugh.

"Are you trying to imitate Abed? And pretty badly? I might add." Annie laughed.

"Yeah," Jeff laughed again, "what can I say? I never thought I would say it, but I miss the meta commentary."

"You do?" Annie tried to hide her smile.

Jeff looked over at her with a stiff, serious expression, "Don't te-"

"Tell anyone," Annie turned to her side to face him and rested on her elbow. She gave him a fake smile, "I know." After a silence, Annie said, "Okay, ready?"

"For what?"

"Darling!" Annie said dramatically.

"Hey, are you being the guy?" Jeff laughed, "I wanna be the guy!"

"Be quiet and let me finish the homage!"

"Fine," Jeff smirked, "please continue."

"Darling," Annie said dramatically again, with a serious expression, "There's a Chinese family in our bathroom!"

Jeff began to laugh.

She tried not to break her serious demeanor and said, pointing towards the aisle, "You're supposed to look over there," she began to giggle.

"Abed would have appreciated that," Jeff said.

Annie nodded and moved from her side to lay on her back.

She closed her eyes for a moment and heard Jeff whisper in her ear, "Hey, don't fall asleep. You'll end up like Adam Sandler in _Click._"

She opened her eyes,"I feel so lost," she said; staring at the ceiling

"Annie, you're only twenty-two. You're supposed to feel lost."

She turned over on her side to look at him and whispered, "Really?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

She smiled back at him, "Thanks, I needed someone to tell me that." After another pause, Annie, turned onto her back again and closed her eyes. She said, "I got lost here when I was seven."

"You did?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said with a faint whisper. "My parents were arguing about something stupid," she uttered a short laugh, "it was probably about curtains. And-and I was sick of it. So, I walked away and wandered over to the other side of the store and laid down on one of the display beds. I fell asleep and they both left; assuming the other one took me with them. They must have been in a really heated argument. A couple hours later, I was woken up by a security guard. My father was waiting for me at the check-out registers."

"What did he say?" Jeff asked.

She turned over to her side again to face Jeff, "He said- he said he was sorry and that he was worried about me. Now, even to this day, he says he always worries about me; what I'm going to do If I'm not careful enough. If I don't think things through."

"But you always think things through before you do them," Jeff said.

"Do I?" she asked absently.

"It was their fault, you know? Not yours."

"I know," she nodded.

"Your class wasn't cancelled, was it?" he asked her.

"No, it wasn't," Annie said softly. She uttered a short laugh, "I skipped class for the first time in four years."

"Now, how about we go pay for these curtains and then go and meet four doofuses at Shirley's sandwiches?"

"Okay," Annie nodded. As Jeff began to get up, she grabbed his arm and asked, "Jeff, am I a failure if I quit grad school?"

He laid back down and shook his head. He turned to her so he could look her in the eyes. He whispered, "No, but you are a failure if you quit for the wrong reasons."

"I think I have good reasons," she said.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"I don't know," she bit her lip.

"What do you want to do?"

She cringed, "It's kind of stupid."

"You can tell me. I wont say anything. Just like how you wont say anything about me possibly getting a job as a prosecutor."

"Okay," she smiled weakly and said, "I think I want to be a detective someday, but..."

"But what?" Jeff asked.

"I was convicted of a felony," Annie whispered. She muttered, "Well, Little Annie Adderall was."

"How old were you?"

"Seventeen," Annie said.

"You can get it expunged," Jeff said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'll help you" he nodded, "It will give us something to do instead of watching daytime, crap TV all day." After a pause he said, "You should do it, Annie. Become a police officer and then a detective. You should do something that makes you happy."

Annie smiled and said, "I think I will." She looked at her watch and said, "We should get going."

* * *

Britta sat at the study room table and stared at the small print of the book she was attempting to read. Her fingers flipped through the pages. Her eyes focused on the page number of the last page; three hundred and fifty-one. She was only on page four. Britta groaned and said, "Abed, nothing is happening in this book. She's just having tea with some guy! I don't know why I listened to you to take this class."

"Britta, it gets better. I promise," Abed replied as he shined the silver whistle hanging from his neck.

"What book is it?" Troy asked.

"_The House of Mirth_," Britta sighed. "It's for, 'The Depiction of Early 20th Century Society Through Literature," class Abed told me to take."

Troy turned to Abed, "Is that movie Annie made us watch with Scully in it based on this book?"

"Yeah," Abed nodded.

"There's a movie?" Britta's eyes lit up.

"There's like a movie for everything now-a-days," Troy nodded.

Britta started to pack up her bag.

"Where are you going?" Abed asked.

"To a video store," Britta replied.

"Um, Britta," Troy crinkled his forehead, "They don't have video stores anymore."

"What? They don't?" Britta asked with disbelief.

"No," Abed said, "With the internet dominating-"

"So, I have to get it on the internet?" Britta pursed her lips. "Dammit. I don't have wifi and I haven't paid my landline phone bill this month."

"Why would you need to pay your phone bill to get on the internet? Like don't you pay the internet bill?" Troy asked.

"I have dial-up," Britta explained.

"Dial-up?" Troy asked, confused. "What are you dialing? Soap?"

"Britta, just read the book," Abed said. "If you did, then we could talk about it afterward and share information with each other." He tilted his head at her.

"Abed, I don't really care about talking about this book bec-Oh, okay," her eyes quickly narrowed, "You sneaky, wiry bas-"

"Oh. Awesome. We came just in time for a Britta rant," a sarcastic voice said from behind her.

Britta rolled her eyes turned around, "Jeff, have you found a job yet bec-"

"Hey guys!" Annie exclaimed as she walked into the room after Jeff, "Guess what?"

"You've been recruited by the FBI to debunk paranormal cases and have been assigned a, 'believer,' partner who will most likely make the job difficult while simultaneously falling in love with you?" Abed asked.

"No, but that's sort of-" Annie began to say.

"You took a paleontology class and a mysterious millionaire has asked you to come to his dinosaur theme park to help with research and stuff," Troy asked.

"I am going to school for biology not-" Annie began again.

"A British secret agent has asked you for his help regarding a nuclear-" Britta began.

"No!" Troy exclaimed. "Are you purposely ruining the science references? Because you did not just try to bring up what I think you just were about to bring up?"

Jeff cringed, "_The World is Not Enough_, Britta? Really?" he asked with distaste.

"It's not so-"

"It is," Abed nodded, "It's arguably worse than, _Tomorrow Never Dies_."

"No, you guys. I'm going to-" Annie began again.

"Hellooo! Everyone!" Shirley exclaimed as she walked into the room. "You wont believe the day I had. Kevin almost lost the key to lock the kitchen up down the sink drain and-"

"Guys!" Annie cringed, "I would really like to announce something that happened to me! When I walked into my biology class this morning, I saw my professor, standing in front of the cadaver we were supposed to dissect and I realized that-"

"He looked just like Jeff Goldblum?" Shirley asked with a giggle.

"Great reference, Shirley," Troy pointed over at her.

"I'm being serious!" Annie said, "and how does my professor looking like Jeff Goldblum have to do with anything?"

"He's played a scientist, like, five times," Jeff said without looking up from his blackberry as he composed a text.

"Really?" Britta asked.

Abed tilted his head at Annie, who was starting to become frustrated. Her hands were clenching into fists and her lip was starting to quiver.

"Yeah," Troy began to think, "_There's the Life Aquatic_- He's an ocean-guy in that. Then he's a biologist in-"

"Annie's made a life-altering decision," Abed stated, "We should listen to her."

"Thank you, Abed," Annie smiled at him sympathetically. She began again,"When I walked into my biology class this morning, I saw my professor, standing in front of the cadaver we were supposed to dissect and I realized that-that I didn't want to go to class-"

"So what?" Britta sighed, "I almost never want to go to class. I mean-"

"So, I skipped!" Annie interrupted.

"You skipped class?" Troy asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah," Annie nodded, "And-and I've decided that I'm quitting grad school and I'm going to become a police officer-"

"What?" Britta interjected. She walked over to Annie with an encouraging, forced smiled. She cupped Annie's shoulders and asked, "What. The. Hell? Do you know how corrupted the Denver Police Department is?

"As much as we would like for you to enlighten us, Britta," Jeff said sarcastically, "Annie has made a decision that makes_ her_ happy. So, your opinion shouldn't be-"

"But, Jeff," Britta glared at him, "there's corruption and brutality and they're all sexist. Do you know that only, like, not even, like, twenty percent of the Denver police force are women and -"

"And I saw them abusing a homeless man outside of the mall yesterday," Shirley said seriously.

"Thank, you Shirley," Britta nodded, "See Annie? What about grad school and-"

"And I'm going to do this!" Annie yelled.

Everyone was silent.

Abed cocked his head to the right; study Annie. He looked down at the ground in deep thought. His mouth dropped half-open and his eyes lit up knowingly. He looked up at Annie and nodded with a smile, "You need to do this, Annie."

"Abed, you can't be serious?" Britta asked.

He nodded to Britta, "It's whats she needs to do." He said, "And now that that's settled are you guys coming to the basketball home opener?"

"Go Human Beings!" Troy yelled.

"I'd rather eat my phone," Jeff said.

Britta winced, "I kind of have to read this book by Friday or I'm never going to pass this literature class and graduate."

"I need to spend time with the boys. I haven't had much time to spend with them lately," Shirley said.

"Annie?" Abed asked.

"I don't know, guys," Annie shrugged, "I need to make a plan. You know? Figure out what I need to do."

"I understand,"Abed nodded.

"So," Shirley smiled as she took her seat, "What did everyone do today?"

"I-" Annie began, but Jeff looked over at her, worried. "I. Um. I skipped class and went to the park."

"Oh, that sounds nice," Shirley smiled.

Britta laughed and said, "Oh my god, you guys wont believe what Abed said to the Dean..."

While Britta laughed about something Abed did earlier that day, Annie smiled and looked at her friends around the table. Britta pushed her hair behind her ears in what felt like slow motion.

That was when Annie realized something.

Britta's left ear had a silver stud in it, while the right one was missing its twin.


	4. Chapter 4

a/n: This story has taken an interesting turn and has become something I didn't originally think it would end up being... Also, some _House of Mirth_ Spoilers for anyone that cares.

* * *

"Alright. We did alright, Abed," Troy said as he walked into apartment 303.

Abed shrugged, "Yeah. We need a better speech."

"Or more practice. Probably more practice," Troy said.

Abed paused to think. "I'll write a speech out tonight. That will make them better." He walked into the kitchen area and saw Annie at the table filling out paperwork.

"Or we could just have more practice," Troy said as he restrained his frustration.

"Hey, guys," Annie said without looking up.

"What are you doing?" Troy asked.

"Resigning from my grad program. How was the game?"

"We won," Abed said.

"But only by, like, three points," Troy said.

"But you still won," Annie said.

"Yeah. I guess." Troy said.

"Once I get the perfect speech down, we'll be fine," Abed said. He nodded and went into his room.

Troy walked over to the fridge and took out some left-over mac and cheese.

"Oh, someone came here looking for you," Annie said as she focused on her paperwork.

"What?" Troy asked with his mouth half-full. "Was it Pierce? Did he lock himself out of his house when he went to his outdoor sauna, again? Because, trust me, seeing Pierce in only a towel is eerily reminiscent of the shower lady from _The Shining_."

"Eww," Annie cringed, "No, it wasn't Pierce...We need to check up on him soon though. We haven't seen him since the, um, incident."

"True," Troy nodded. "Well, who was it? Everyone else I know was busy, except maybe my dad." His eyes widened, "Was it my dad?"

"No," Annie shook her head, "It was a guy who wanted to talk to you about a job or something. He said he couldn't contact you because the only number he had was your dad's house and your dad wasn't telling him your number for some reason. He left a number. I put it on the fridge. The whole thing was so strange."

Troy walked over to the fridge and took the post-it note with a phone number off of it.

* * *

Britta sat cross legged on her living room couch as she became engrossed with the assigned book for her class. Her eyes scanned the pages as her mouth slowly dropped open.

"Trenor, you asshole!" Britta said aloud to herself as she turned the page. Her cell phone vibrated on the table as she received a text. She ignored it, but then it started to ring. She sighed and picked up the phone, "What, Jeff?"

_"What are you doing?" _Jeff asked.

"I'm busy."

_"Feeding your cats doesn't qualify as being busy." _

"Shouldn't you be looking for a job?" she asked with agitation.

_"Shouldn't you be on your way to L Street to meet me for a drink?" _

"It's the Red Door and no I shouldn't as I am busy."

_"What could you of all people possibly be busy with? You quit knitting-" _

"I never quit. I'm in the middle of making a sweater for Daniel-" Britta's eyes shifted to the not even half-finished cat sweater that sat in a basket in the corner of the room.

_"That you haven't knitted a stitch on in almost two years. Everyone you know is either sleeping or watching Inspector Spacetime right now-" _

"That is definitely not true-"

_"We both know it is and we both know you're not busy." _

"I can't. I need to read this book."

_"Seriously? Just get the Cliff Notes." _

"You know, I still haven't gotten a clear answer from you?"

_"I think that I've explicitly stated that I would like to get drunk and then-" _

"No, that is crystal clear. What I want to know is Have. You. Found. A. Job. Yet?"

_"The thing about looking for jobs is that with the way the modern economy is and the new factor of the internet and-" _

"Don't give me that bull-shit."

_"Fine you want the answer?" _

"Um. Dah-doy," Britta rolled her eyes.

_"Then come down to L Street and I'll tell you." _

"Does this mean that you have a job?"

_"It means that if you want an answer, you're going to have to come to L Street."_

Britta sighed, "It's the Red Door and I'll be there in ten minutes."

* * *

Troy, stunned, slowly sauntered out of his room and into the living room area where Abed and Annie were not watching _Inspector Spacetime_, but instead were watching _Cougar Town_.

"Troy, you're missing it," Abed said.

"Um, yeah," Troy said with disinterest as he sat on the couch next to Annie. He snapped out of his daze and asked, "I mean, the show or Annie's reaction to the show?"

"Annie's reaction, of course" Abed nodded.

"He likes to study the way women respond differently to jokes than men," Annie laughed.

"Ye-ah, that's probably the reason," Troy said with slight sarcasm. He sucked in air and paused for a moment; rubbing his hands together and biting his bottom lip.

Annie's eyes shifted away from Courtney Cox guzzling her wine and over to Troy, "What's wrong?"

"I met with that guy," Troy said.

"What guy?" Abed tilted his head.

"The guy who was looking for me and, ah, I need to make an important announcement tomorrow at the Study Session, like, one where everyone needs to come."

"What happened?" Annie asked. Her forehead was crinkled.

"I wanna tell everyone...together," Troy nodded and walked back into his room.

Abed's eyes widened. He got up from his chair and knocked on Troy's door. He walked into Troy's room and closed the door. "I knew this would happen at some point," Abed nodded.

Troy walked over and said as his voice cracked, "I'm sorry, man."

"It's cool," Abed nodded and did his handshake with Troy. He said with a slight sadness, "I just didn't think it would happen this fast..."

"What about the project?" Troy asked.

"We'll figure something out," Abed nodded. "You gotta do this, though. It essential to what will come later."

"Will you and Annie be okay?"

Abed nodded again.

* * *

"Well, of all the bars in Greendale, Colorado-" Jeff smirked.

"Stop trying to be cute," Britta sighed. She sat on the bar stool next to Jeff's without taking her coat off and added with sarcasm, "No track pants? Aren't I a lucky girl?"

"I'm at a bar. I wouldn't dare wear track pants to a bar. Then I might as well start wearing a wife beater and go to seedy, wood paneled sports bars during the day, which would mean I would be turning into my Uncle Ted and I promised myself at age seven that would never happen...You want a drink?"

"No. I'm withholding my own enjoyment and by extension of that your own enjoyment, until you tell me about your job-"

"I never said that I had a job-"

"If you're going to dance around this subject all night like the annoying ass that you just love to be, then I'm going to ignore you," Britta forced a smile at Jeff, then took the book out of her bag and began to read it.

"We're at a bar, with dim lighting I might add, and you're pretending to read a book just to make me think you're ignoring me?"

"I'm not pretending," Britta snapped, "This book has gotten pretty awesome."

"Oh really? Then what's happening right now in it?"

"Some old dude-"

"An old _dude_?" Jeff asked, amused.

"An older _gentleman_," Britta narrowed her eyes at Jeff, "just forced himself on Lily because he lent her money and she can't pay him back-see I'm reading it. I can read entire books and thoroughly enjoy them and stuff."

"I never said I doubted that you were reading it," Jeff said as he waived over the bartender, "I just doubted that you were actually-she'll have a martini with four olives- that you were actually busy."

"I'm busy...sometimes."

"I thought it was already established that cat related things don't-"

"Job! What's with the job related stuff in your life?" Britta interrupted as the bartender sat her martini down in front of her.

"Fine," Jeff said. He took a swig of his scotch and said, "I've found a job and-"

"You did!" Britta smiled wide. "Did you listen to me and open your own practice so you don't support corporations with tax fraud and sexual harassment vio-"

"No," Jeff interrupted, "I'm not opening my own practice."

"Well, what are you gonna do then?"

"Well, you know that Annie needs to get her record expunged and-"

"Don't remind me," Britta rolled her eyes, "The last thing I need is Annie lecturing me even more on illegal substances than she already does and once you add giving her the ability to issue people speeding tickets and the permission to carry a visible weapon then you've got-"

"And once I help her with that I'm," Jeff started to mumble, "taking a job at the Denver District Attorney's office."

"What was the last part?" Britta asked with a smirk she tried to contain from becoming a beaming smile.

"I'm going to take a job with the District Attorney's Office," Jeff said.

"Really?" Britta bit her bottom lip.

Jeff nodded.

"Okay," she nodded with a smile and picked up her book. She took a sip of her drink without taking her eyes away from the book.

"So you're not going to be all annoying about how this is such a noble thing of me to do and that I'm fighting for justice and all that kind of bull-shit? You're going to be coy about this?"

"All lawyers are the same," Britta said casually as she turned the page of her book. "They stretch the truth like silly putty and only care about squeezing every single dime out of their clients."

"All lawyers are not the same," Jeff shook his head.

"If you say so, Jeff," she shrugged and took another sip of her drink.

"I must say, I'm slightly disappointed that you didn't give me a speech about how excited I thought you would be."

"You're drunk," she let out a short laugh.

"I'm not drunk."

"Why are you taking this job?" Britta asked.

"I dunno," Jeff shrugged, "Maybe-maybe I don't want to help out 'skeezeballs,' anymore?"

Britta set her book down on the counter and looked at Jeff. With a serious expression, she leaned over to him and lightly kissed him. When she pulled away, Jeff looked at her, slightly confused. She tilted her head at him and said, "It doesn't matter what I think. Are you happy with your decision?"

"Yeah," Jeff nodded.

"Then that's awesome," she whispered with a slight smile.

* * *

"Okay, spill," Britta said as she ran after Abed in the hallway the next morning, "Why have you not decided to graduate yet?"

"Fine, I guess this would be the right scene to tell you in," Abed nodded, "Troy needed me. I couldn't leave him here and graduate without him. Plus, we're working on something important together. It's going to be big. But it's a process. Anything worth doing is a process, take Kaufman's _Scynecdoche_..."

Britta put her hand on his shoulder; looking at him sympathetically.

Abed looked at her hand. His eyes scanned up her arm and to her face. "I do understand that every life decision should not be-"

"Wait- I am the one therapizing, here."

"Fine, then what were you going to say?"

Britta said meekly, "I was going to say how every life decision of yours should not be made with Troy in mind and that-"

"I make decisions after careful analyzation of every possibility, like rolling a die," Abed said, "You see, Britta, sometimes the little decisions matter more than the larger ones. Sometimes, the larger ones aren't even decisions at all, maybe it's just fate? Maybe all the small discussions are what leads up to the bigger ones having a clear, definitive answer with only one logical path to take?"

"Ok-ay, I did not intend for this to get this philosophical and-"

"And the point is, there's more at work here than me just wanting to hang out with Troy at Greendale everyday," Abed nodded and added, "I have to go, I'll see you at the Study meeting later."

* * *

"It's going to be okay, right? They're going to see that I am a law abiding citizen who volunteers and may have gotten into some pretend gun problems-" Annie, dressed professionally, said as she began to panic and pace back and forth in the hallway of the courthouse.

"Annie, they're not going to care about that fake gun lecture. It's not going to be on your record. I guarantee it," Jeff, dressed in a suit, said.

"Yeah, I know, but what if someone told them or if-"

"Listen," Jeff cupped both her shoulders and said, "They're going to expunge your record. You're a beautiful, middle class, educated white woman. You could probably get away with murder," he smirked.

Annie laughed, "Okay." She smiled up at him and said, "Thanks, so much for this, Jeff."

"You're my friend, Annie, and I care about what happens to you," he smiled.

"You do?"

"Of course I do," he nodded.

Annie then hugged him tightly.

The doors to the court room opened. Jeff looked at the doors and asked, "You ready?"

"Yeah," Annie said before she let go of Jeff.

* * *

"Hellooo, everyone!" Shirley said. She walked into the study room, "I brought brow-nies!"

"Cool," Abed said, disinterested.

"Yum," Troy said glumly.

"Not the kind of I like," Britta absently said as she scanned the pages of her book.

Shirley set the plate of brownies on the table and said, "What did I miss? You all do know that I am literally in the same exact building as all of you every single day?"

"Sorry, Shirley," Abed said, "nothing's happened just yet, Troy and I have an announcement."

Shirley's face dropped, "You-you do? You _both_ do? Ab-about what, may I ask?"

"My future," Troy said.

"Really?" Shirley asked with wide, mortified eyes.

"Guess who's going to now be able to enroll in the police academy come this January?' Jeff announced as he walked into he room.

Shirley exclaimed, "Did she get it expunged?"

"I got it expunged" Annie said with excitement as she followed Jeff into the room and started to do a victory dance.

"Sweetie, that's great," Shirley said. She went up to Annie and hugged her, "Would you like a brownie?"

"No, thanks. That's okay," Annie said.

"Shirley, just sit down," Troy said.

"Excuse me, Troy?" Shirley narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I have an announcement to make."

Jeff sat in his chair and said, "Go ahead."

Troy stood up and said, "I'm moving to Canada."

"Thank the Lord, it's not what I was thinking it was!" Shirley said, "Wait a minute! Canada?"

"What?" Annie asked with wide eyes.

Britta didn't respond, as she was too focused on the last remaining pages of her book.

"Yeah, Canada?" Jeff tilted his head.

"I've been recruited to play Canadian football," he looked at Annie in the eyes, "That's who that guy was. He was a Canadian Football scout."

"You wanna move to...Canada?" Annie asked. "Canada?"

Troy nodded.

"Troy, are you sure this is what you want to do?" Shirley asked.

"Totally sure," Troy nodded.

Shirley nodded back, "You promise to visit and Skype?"

"Um. Of course I will. Abed and I will be watching _Inspector Spacetime _over Skype, like, every night.

Shirley said with tears in her eyes, 'We're going to miss you."

"He can't move to Canada," Jeff interrupted, "What do you think, Britta?" He looked over at her.

Britta's eyes were focused on the pages of her book; she had become engrossed with the story and only had a couple of pages left. Without her eyes leaving the page, she ignored Jeff and slowly turned the page with her index finger.

As everyone argued, Britta, with an expression of complete and utter shock, slowly closed her book and quietly set it on the table.

"Britta?" Annie crinkled her forehead.

"Hey," Jeff waved his hand in front of Britta's eye-line, "Earth to Britta."

"She died. Lily died," Britta uttered. "She-she killed herself."

'That's actually debatable beca-" Abed began.

"She's a fictional character, Britta. She can't die. She never existed," Jeff said.

"She just paid off her debt. Seldon was coming to tell her how he-you know-and-and she-she died! What the absolute fuck?" Britta tilted her head, confused and bit her lip. "I-I need to go and think and stuff. Um. I'll talk to you guys later."

Britta slowly packed up her things into her bag with a dazed stare and was about to leave the room.

"Britta?" Jeff said without turning around, "Troy is moving to Canada."

Britta stopped dead before leaving the Study Room. "What?" She turned around and looked at Troy, "Why? Is this a joke?"

"What was that?" Annie looked over at Abed, "I read that book in ninth grade and it didn't have any prolific effect on me."

"Britta relates to the protagonist differently than you did," Abed replied back at Annie.

"O-kay," Jeff rolled his eyes at Britta, "Are we all at least in agreement that Troy needs to think this over?"

Everyone except Abed began to nod.

"Wait," Troy sucked on his bottom lip and looked at Jeff seriously, "This is-this is what I wanna do."

"What happened to you saying that football wasn't fun anymore?" Annie asked.

"Yeah, but..." Troy shrugged, "But neither is air-conditioning...or plumbing...or-or anything else really except watching TV with Abed and Annie." He paused as he struggled to explain. "I've talked it over with Abed and I think that it's best for me to play, like, at least one season and figure out what exactly I want to do forever and stuff. Because as much as I love you guys and Abed, I think that I need to figure out stuff for myself, by myself."

He nodded and left the Study Room; leaving the group stunned.

* * *

Sweat dripped down his forehead. His arms ached and his joints felt like they were filled with fluids. He heard cracks as twigs and leaves became crunched underneath his shoes. It was dark. So dark that he could barely see what was in front of him. Although he knew where he was going because he had done this before.

Many times before.

The sounds of the crashing of the swells from the Colorado River helped him gauge where he needed to be heading. The way back would be easier, must easier. He groaned and set down the laundry bag he was carrying on his back. He needed a break.

Once he had a break it would be easier.

The crashes became louder. The river was close. The crinkles of the leaves blowing in the wind suppressed the sounds of the river.

He wished there was another way; an easier way. However, this was the only, surefire way no one would know.

Know one would know.

No one suspected.

Step one: Drop the bag in the river.

Step two: Watch it sink; The current would take it away.

Step three: Go back to his campsite. He always camped on Fridays. It was normal.

Step four: Volunteer to trudge the river tomorrow. He always volunteered on Saturdays. No one would know. It was normal.

Step five: Go to South America to 'help people.' If something was found. He would already be out of the country.

Step six: When nothing turns up, return and go back to the States.

It was just another normal weekend for Dr. Rich Stephenson.


	5. Chapter 5

a/n) Short chapter, but I've finally figured out where I want to go with this story. Not that many jokes in here; mostly a plot-centric chapter. I'll make grammatical edits for this chapter and Chapter 4 later.

* * *

As she set the table for two, Annie's gaze didn't stray from the door to Troy's room. It was quiet and Abed hadn't left his blanket fort since they dropped Troy off at the airport that afternoon. She missed the sounds of their chairs reclining at the same time, the TV turning on and them watching in absolute silence as Inspector Spacetime went into the Time Booth. She walked into the kitchen and took the two bowls of buttered noodles off the counter and set them at the table.

Annie sat in her seat and just stared at the buttered noodles. Abed hadn't come out even though it was six-thirty and that was the time she always made dinner when it was her night. With hesitation, she got up from her seat and stood in front of the door to Abed's blanket fort. After a moment of silence, she was about to open her mouth, when she heard Abed say, "Don't worry. I'll be out in a minute. I'm just finishing up something."

Annie smiled with relief. "Okay! Take your time! We have all the time in the world! Or at least until the food gets cold, but I could always heat it up or something!" She cringed from her overenthusiastic delivery.

Abed opened the curtains to his blanket fort and said, "I'm fine." He walked over to the table and sat down.

Annie followed and sat across from him. She plastered on a forced smile. "I made buttered noodles!"

"Really, Annie," Abed tilted his head at her, "I'm fine."

"What? Pfff," Annie giggled with nervousness, "I know that. Fine. Ye-ah. We're all fine!"

"Then why are you treating me delicately like you would if I were Barry Egan?"

"I am not treating you like I would if you were Barry Egan."

"If you're going to be a police officer, you're going to need to become a better liar."

"Says who?"

"John McClaine, Billy Costigan Jr, Popeye Doyle-"

"What about Marge Gunderson?"

"Okay, good point and reference, but I'm serious. I'm fine," he said.

"Okay," Annie shook her head. "Okay."

After Abed finished his buttered noodles, he dabbed his mouth with a napkin and said, "I have to go out. I'll be back later." He picked up his bowl and cleared his place setting.

Annie dropped her fork and rose form her chair with immediacy to follow Abed into the kitchen. "Where, um, where are you going?"

"Rachel and I are going to a screening of _Inspector Spacetime_ in Polish."

"Seriously? She wants to do that?" Annie crinkled her forehead.

"Yeah, she suggested it," Abed tilted his head back at her and paused.

"What?" Annie asked.

"Nothing, I was just trying to read your reaction accurately."

"Oh," Annie bit her bottom lip. "Well, have fun...I guess."

"Thanks," Abed nodded and left out the front door.

Annie stood, alone, and looked around the apartment. To her the silence was unbearable.

* * *

Jeff woke up on his couch to the sounds of 1980's punk rock music. He couldn't remember what band it was because he stopped listening to punk music in 1993 just like the rest of the world did. He turned to his side and saw Britta, now blonde again, sitting in a chair and reading a magazine. He said, "Ugh. Please remind me again why I told you where the emergency key was."

"You almost choked to death that time and you didn't want the Dean to be the one to find you if you died," Britta said as she casually turned the page of her magazine.

"Point taken," Jeff mumbled into his pillow. He looked up at her and said, "Blonde again?"

"Yeah," Britta said.

"Why the sudden change?"

"Why not?" She rose her eyebrows at him for a split second and then continued to her magazine. After a pause she said, without looking up, "I see you finally decided to get some curtains."

"They're good for napping and for glares on the TV screen."

"The nap thing is pretty obvious. It's just that imagining you in Bed, Bath, and Beyond is like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs," she set the magazine down on the side-table and said, "Can we, like, talk."

"I don't know what you define as talking, but referencing the definition that I'm familiar with, I would say this," he motioned back and forth to himself and her, "constitutes as talking."

"No," Britta rolled her eyes, "I mean, about, like..." she drifted off.

"I don't care Sir Fiztmittens is on kitty death row this time. I can't have an old, diabetic cat peeing all over my apartment."

"No," she shook her head, "Not really that."

"Not really that?" he rose his eyebrows at her, "Not really?"

"I've been thinking a lot lately-"

"I know. You actually read a book."

"Yeah, which was exactly what got me thinking about-"

"How you will actually pass and graduate?"

"That and...what are we doing?"

"We are sitting in my living room and practicing my definition of talking, otherwise known as a conversation."

"No," Britta gulped and started to pick at a loose thread in her sweater, "I mean you and me in the grand scheme of things...like, what are we, you and I doing, in relation to that."

"I dunno," he shrugged, "but I like what we're currently doing...in the grand scheme of things...Do you?"

"Yeah, of course," she answered with immediacy. "But, um...what if you and I were to do the same exact thing we're doing now, only my emergency key would be, like, not an emergency key... you know, so, like, just in case the Dean finds the said emergency key and he ends up being the one that finds you when you die instead of me, only-"

Jeff tilted his head at her and finished the sentence, "if I gave you a real key there would not be a need for an emergency key, thus relieving the fear of the Dean finding me."

"Exactly!" Britta said. "I mean, I stay here enough anyway."

"Good point...You know what else would be, like, practical? If I let you use the closet in the spare room... You know because you're here, like all the time and will probably be even more with an actual key"

"That would also be very practical and make complete sense," Britta nodded.

"Okay," Jeff said.

"Sounds good," Britta said and returned to her magazine.

* * *

The next day, Britta walked down the halls of Greendale's library. As she made her way past the study room, she stopped and stared at it. She didn't like the emptiness of it. It was unsettling.

Suddenly, a voice from behind scared her, "Why are we staring?"

She flinched and saw Abed behind her. "Oh, Abed," she laughed, "You scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry," he said.

"Wait a sec," Britta shook her head, "Why are you still here?"

"I have class and I'm working on a project."

"No," Britta sighed, "Why are you still here, at Greendale! You should have graduated! Everyone is gone. Troy is gone and now there's no reason for you to stay!"

Abed tilted his head at her. He smiled slightly and looked her in the eyes, "I used to be left behind my entire life. People never gave me the chance. They just wrote me off. Except, you. You didn't leave me behind when you asked me to come to that study session and I know it was to make sure that Jeff wasn't just trying to hit on you, but I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for you. I wouldn't have my friends and I'm not leaving you behind now, Britta. Friends don't leave each other behind alone like that."

Britta smiled as tears filled her eyes. She hugged Abed and said, "Promise me that you'll graduate after this semester?"

He patted her on the back and said, "Okay."

She released him from her tight embrace and looked into the Study Room, "Do we go in?"

Abed nodded.

Britta walked into the room with slow steps. Her grip tightened on her purse strap as she sat in her seat. Her eyes looked toward Jeff's seat and she smiled, "Jeff's late, again."

Abed sat next to her and said, "Shirley was going to bring in brownies today, but Ben ate them all. He's sick and she has to stay home as she has to juggle finishing her Advanced Spanish Final Project. Hilarity ensues."

"Pierce's gadget blew a circuit," Britta smirked. "He's not going to be able to make it to school today because of burns. Don't worry there will be no scarring."

"Troy's been held up at the Air-Conditioning repair school," Abed nodded, "City College is trying to steal their secret teaching methods. _The Departed_ Homage."

"Annie's criminology professor has her preoccupied with tracking down the mysterious locker thief-"

"We get a _Lake House_ homage," Abed nodded. "The Dean comes in dressed as-"

"A cow!" Britta interrupted. After an awkward pause, she said, "It's not the same- imagining it."

"I know," Abed nodded.

"It's going to be a long semester," Britta whispered.

* * *

**Six Months Later**

Captain Larson knelt down to allow himself a better look at what washed up on the riverbed. His focused intensely on the washed up laundry bag as he tried to ignore the flashing of the forensic examiner's DSLR camera. He snapped on the white, plastic gloves and opened the laundry bag to remove the various body parts enclosed in the ziploc plastic bags.

"No fingers," he said gruffly.

"Or toes," the forensic examiner said.

"This is the second girl we've found around here," he sighed and rubbed his temples with his fingers, "We're going to have to dredge the river."

"The entire river?"

"Just our part," Captain Larson nodded, "I don't want the feds involved." He stood up and looked around the crime scene. That was when he saw her. He pursed his lips and shook his head as he walked toward her. "Officer Edison, what are you doing here?" he sighed.

"Well," she smiled back at him. She nervously pushed a lose hair from her bun behind her ear, "I thought you guys might need some help considering that you, sir, haven't assigned me to a unit yet and-"

"I puttin' you in Vice, Edison," he said and started to walk away, "Go home."

"Vice?" Annie's eyes widened. She caught up with Captain Larson and ran to keep up with his long strides. She stood in front of him, impeding his movement forward, "What? You put all the female officers in Vice."

"And that's because our male officers would look pretty ridiculous posing as female prostitutes. Not every guy in Denver has a fetish for a tranny. I'm puttin' Davis in Homicide," He gently put his hands on her shoulders and moved her out of the way.

Annie scowled. She caught up with him again and stood in front of him, "Look, you have to put me in Homicide. I had the best scores out of anyone and I beat most of the guys in the academy at hand to hand combat. I'm a better choice than Davis and we both know it."

"Edison, I've told yah, Davis just wouldn't look good in a wig." He laughed and started to walk away again.

Annie sighed. She clenched both her fists and ran up to the captain again, "I know I'm supposed to listen to you, but you-you need to listen to me. I am the best choice and we both know it! You want to put me in Vice and make me dress up like a whore and flirt with men and just be part of some mindless sting operation, then fine! But you-you'd be wasting my talent and we both know it. You want to go with that-that Davis with his head up his ass, then fine!" She started to walk away.

Captain Larson sighed. He turned around and said, "Officer Edison?"

Annie cringed and turned. She asked, "Yes, sir?"

"You're on this case," he motioned for her to follow him, "Come on."

"Really?" she smiled.

"Yeah," he nodded, "Just never talk to me like that again or the only job you'll be able to get will be in mall security."

"Okay, sir! I wont ever again. I promise. I really promise," she ran after him and caught up to his fast pace.

"Alright," he said, "The victim is a female, brunette, probably between the ages of eighteen and thirty. He body was dismembered and put into a laundry bag; except the fingers and toes are missing. You're job is to go back to the station and look up any women fitting her description who have been reported missing in the last six months."

"Okay, sir," Annie said. "I'll research the crap out of this."


End file.
